Comic Book Advertisements - Atop the Fourth Wall

Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this episode, Linkara looks at a bunch of advertisements in comic books!
atopthefourthwall.com
Originally uploaded July 25th, 2011.
ORIGINAL INFO: You will worship hostess fruit pies or they shall take their vengeance upon you!
RUMINATIONS: This episode is, of course, the precursor to the “Comic Book Quickies” segment I would begin doing later. It was already an experimental concept for an episode and I tried to focus in on the feedback I got from people on whether I would do it again or not. Most people agreed that the best part of it was the Hostess ads, but I kept feeling like it wasn’t enough to sustain a single episode - I would need more material than that. Aaaand that’s where you get into Comic Book Quickies, but that’s a story for another day.
By this point, I knew where the Entity storyline was going and wanted to start laying the groundwork for the next major one. I don’t think I had QUITE figured out that I was doing the “His Blue Soul” arc yet, but I knew I was going to be doing the Gunslinger arc and Linkara’s journey, so I needed to start setting up Linkara’s assholery here and in the Lady Gaga review.

[@Morningstar91939]

“I have a spaceship.” I love that line.

[@TheAllSeeingEye2468]

Margret (now mark) did not if you fallow the storyline

[@andreworders7305]

Pigeon Person actually reappeared in the DC Rebirth Nightwing series, statue defacing and all. Lol. Now that’s a deep cut.

[@N3bu14Gr4y]

13:48 "Vibrating Shocker" Good-night, everybody!

[@kirbydude9]

Pigeon Person appeared in a recent Nightwing book as a flashback, this story is canon.

[@DinosaurFan88]

Also, the back page ads make me think of how George and Harold ordered that 3D Hypno-Ring in the first Captain Underpants book.

[@mitchfletcher2386]

I remember THAT!!

[@beats0me]

Every time I get my hands on an older comic and see those pages, my brain always goes to that scene from captain underpants as well XD

[@johnhitz4442]

And thus, the saga of Comic Book Quickies began.

[@0n1baka]

I have a comic where the advertisement for a Twinkie was so valuable that it was considered to be Thor's most valued treasure

[@jessesaunders7043]

According to some quick googling it would take 2,721,554 pigeons to lift the Statue of Liberty (pigeons can carry 75 grams, SoL weighs 450,000 pounds)

[@GreenGoblinsOckVenom]

I have to say the silliest ad from theback pages I saw was in an old Fantastic Four comic from the 60s. It actually said you could buy a pet monkey, wolf, hawk, owl, or Falcon. Of course it also said you had to go to some place in Florida to get it. Can't believe anyone fell for it.

[@JaelinBezel]

A PET OWL?! :D

[@TheBonkleFox]

@@JaelinBezel nah that's a thing.

[@richmcgee434]

I had one of those hovercraft as a kid. It was about 8" long and did actually work as advertised. Pretty much a thin, very light plastic shell attached to a small electric fan and a short (2' maybe?) power cable that ran to a flashlight-shaped controller with a simple on-off switch. Ran on a couple of D cells IIRC.

[@TheBonkleFox]

Oh shoot i have one of those! It was basically meant to be played with as a little soccer thing...... of course the damn thing doesn't work on carpet so it's pointless to have.

[@Isaac-gh5ku]

The Statue of Libetry was getting lifted by an army of pigeons. ... ... ... HOW WAS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!

[@TheNemesis432]

Why do you even question logic in comic book AND advertisment?

[@johnalogue9832]

I once saw an ad with a superhero in it showing off some shady website "CASHNET USA". DEFINITELY some kind of scam. 1. CAAASSSSHHH is in the name and the ad constantly promises free money. 2. Scammers always seem to work really, really hard to sound "American", going by fake names like "John Smith". The proudly advertised USA suffix seems to fit this pattern. 3. It's an ad that offers you free money and never seems to explain how it plans to give you free money. 4. Why is this not illegal? Ads sometimes must be questioned.

[@DeadBoneJones]

There's a Lupin the Third special where he steals the Statue using a massive balloon which was somehow stored in an ordinary six-sided die.

[@Isaac-gh5ku]

DeadBoneJones 😲

[@johnalogue9832]

I looked up that website and someone claimed to have contacted them. They immediately demanded a huge amount of money they "owed" and the organization threatened to sue and employ collection agencies against this person...and this was the first time they had ever talked to them...it was probably a made up story, but I'd believe it, and it was on a website full of complaints.

[@jojothebard6687]

R.I.P. The nitpicker (Rest In Piss)

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Rest in Piss? You mean he didn't already every night? Oops. Confused him with Chester A. Bum.

[@Rakshasa1986]

I have a story about those ads in the back pages. This happened in the late 80s. My two cousins bought a comic book (I forgot which one) and saw a picture of x-ray glasses that got them really hyped. They couldn't afford it so they asked their father for money for the glasses. He wouldn't give them the cash so they badgered him for days and days. He finally caved in and gave them money. They sent in a clipping of the ad and the cash. A few weeks later they got a letter from the company that said "We don't accept Canadian money", with the bills in the envelope torn to pieces.

[@LibraGamesUnlimited]

Well, that was rude. :) Tell them no big loss I hear they didn't work anyway. :)

[@GabyGeorge1996]

Are you Canadian?

[@Rakshasa1986]

Gaby George Yup!

[@ElJorro]

Damn...

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

Why do I have the feeling that it was the father that did that to get back at them for annoying him...

[@RaccoonRevolution]

Is "life-size ghost" an oxymoron?

[@TomboyCEO]

Wow good jorb

[@nathanthompson4613]

Make Anime Great Again You did good two. The FCC opposes your username, the bastards

[@ninjagregshow9423]

No, "real life" ghost is

[@Grim_Sister]

"I have a spaceship. Your argument is invalid."

[@CouchSpud91]

This episode was less "entertaining" and more informative and relaxing. It's a nice change of pace from the usual ranting and raving about a comic's issues and it's a pretty neat and unique look into comic book history. I wouldn't mind another episode like this, especially if you do it as a follow up to any super-big episode or series (like you could have done this after the Countdown or Ultimatum reviews, or after the Lord Vyce story arc was finished).

[@JanetStarChild]

I find it hilarious that the game screenshot they chose for the ad is of Andre the Giant kicking Hulk Hogan in the junk. 9:00

[@JaredsGaming]

I love the fact that whenever fellow reviewers talked to each other, they were usually on the set where they always do their reviews.

[@SpeedyEric1]

1:30- Owning a spaceship is like drinking alcohol; it must be done responsibly.

[@billyweed835]

SpeedyEric1 You don't know how right you are...

[@djoshawott2850]

You mean that wasn't responsible?

[@TPrower]

Yes, Critic, people still read comic books. XD I love when you divert to comic ads or your Comic Book Quickies, Linkara =)

[@TheMellowFilmmaker]

12:22 People who are protective of confederate monuments logic.

[@Tareltonlives]

Lost Causers really are comic book supervillains

[@theFlyingSwami]

No SeaMonkey family chilling in a fishbowl? No "Hero of the Beach!"? Madness. Clearly, there needs to be at least one more of these.

[@thesilencer1969]

I like how Batman has" Figured out her plan " as to which statue Pigeon Person will steal next !! That was a brilliant deduction , since in the previous panel , Pigeon Person proclaims there to be ONE statue left !! Ah , I love these old Hostess ads !!

[@roguishpaladin]

Also, I look forward to the Squirrel Girl vs. Pigeon Person crossover event.

[@JebWCManning]

Pfft... Screw gravity! (floats upward)

[@CustomCoaster]

I thought this was really fun and would like to see another episode of Advertisements, there are a ton of bad and good advertisements, though it takes a bit of hunting. A lot of the weird ones are from the 80's, though the 90's and even sometimes in 2000 there's some advertisement comics. Maybe a short AD comic review, like four at a time, since each would be about 2-6 pages. Anyhow, I like it and it was a joy.

[@TennantJunkie1993]

I bet Harry would've KILLED for one of those when he was a kid. Even on Night Court, he still ordered stuff from the back of a comic book in his 30's.

[@Duothimir]

To be fair, Benzaie is totally hotter than Nostalgia Chick. It's the accent, man. Everybody loves a French accent.

[@masedaace5473]

Check the Chick in her outfit from Mulone Rouge review with Nostalgia Critic.

[@LegendPurpleDragon152]

Anyone else half expecting one of those Pigeons to go “Hey! Where’s the cream filling!?”

[@mikigirl18]

An alliteration for Linkara "Percy planted a plenty of purple pansies." ^___^ I love this show.

[@TheRealGaucelm]

Why is NC surprised that people "still" read comic books? Why would he think comic books are no longer popular?

[@TheScorpion0081]

This is the Nostalgia Critic we are talking about...

[@isaacargesmith8217]

It's a joke. Linkara's the butt of the joke in these situations a lot of the time.

[@AT4W]

Isaac Argesmith Plus comic book sales have dropped like a rock in the past twenty years, what with changes in the market, raised prices, perceptions of people, and changes in technology and culture and the advent of webcomics.

[@isaacargesmith8217]

Linkara-AtopTheFourthWall Wouldn't people's perceptions nowadays help sales though? After all comic book movies have become a successful industry and have introduced many to the medium, including me.

[@swampshark100]

Isaac Argesmith Trade paperbacks see increased interest, not the normal monthly comics tho.

[@pokemongirl5674]

I actually enjoyed this video (even if it's about 4 years old). I was wondering on what the ads were like in the past and now I get an idea of what they were like. Thank you for uploading this! ;)

[@thecomicnation1085]

That was hilarious, do it again :D

[@cobrapanic]

Half of my comics have Sega ads, perks of the 90's I guess?

[@ethanedwards3357]

Cobra Panic "SEGAAA!" What the...

[@teedup8995]

Around late 76/77 there was the one page ads for the original G.I . Joe and introduced new characters like Eagle eye Joe or Bulletman the human bullet. ( my personal favorite of those)

[@TheBonkleFox]

No no no, linkara. Super rock is different in that Batman doesn't even bother protesting it, and instead he just nukes it with an orbital satellite.

[@Mymloch]

One of the main reasons I go for back issues rather than trades or digital is because I like seeing the old ads and letters columns.

[@bluestar2059]

"I've never played any Zelda games before." And then, several years later, we were introduced to Knill, the Gardener of Hyrule!

[@SemiJuggaloNumber2]

These old comic adds really took me back, thanks for the trip down Memory Lane!

[@Davethe3rd]

Ah, the good old days... Back when Doug knew who Benzaie was...

[@andreworders7305]

The back of the comic order form X-Ray glasses are a classic. They were apparently prevalent enough to be referenced in modern media.

[@Tareltonlives]

"I WILL BURY YOU!"

[@Tareltonlives]

This idea of riffing on comic book ads is brilliant. So glad this is an ongoing series.

[@jacobg6628]

Hey, Nitpik had a good point. Why can't everyone look more like Benzaie?

[@Seanatonin]

Do more of these, Linkara!!!!

[@Akatsukileader9]

Oh my god it's Bird Person

[@MoonMoverGaming]

You abandoned your leader in exchange for cupcakes. In bird culture, this is considered a dick move.

[@Trevin_Taylor]

Moon Mover said no bird ever...

[@Tareltonlives]

Pigeon person vs the Neo-confederates: LET THEM FIGHT

[@Maswartz226]

my thoughts exactly

[@troin3925]

The back page ad that you looked at at the end of the video was used as the title card for the Spongebob episode "Pranks a Lot."

[@pixelknight1368]

8:51 so apparently linkara had more than one clone

[@Krendall2]

9:06 "Not a very good game" is kind.

[@Merit2397]

Mr McNitpick, the original email weirdo.

[@billymccrary2246]

Pigeon Person... Truly a name like that truly bring fear into the heart of citizens and truly a much more frighten name than other came before her, like the Vulture, the Penguin, the Silver Swan and mostly important of all... Mr. Pigeon! (NOTE: This is me truly being both snarky and sarcastic at the same time, people)

[@amethystnat]

I really enjoyed it! I'd love to see another one like this from you, Linkara! [thumbs up]

[@RenjiMaili]

So I guess I should take this to mean that if not for Hostess Fruit Pies then Pigeon Person would be Batman's most powerful enemy?

[@garganrose]

What the hell is he talking about? Nostalgia Chick is beautiful.

[@sheepheadsez2229]

I got one of those charm bracelets and was enrolled into charm school an hour later.

[@xxxxtwiztidxxx]

I really liked your version of attack of the commercials it's a good lil Break in between watching you review such horrors as the Gameboy comic. Definitely worth doing more in the future.

[@starwarsiscooll]

Hahaha I enjoyed this, u should do more of these, so many weird ads from back in the day and food brand propaganda like Hostess and Nesquik is always hilarious.

[@kellychuang8373]

I can say good video really laughed at this. Hard to imagine people bought like this well aside from actually going to the store back in the days before online shopping and Amazon but it was.

[@noahmagana137]

10 years of the precursor to comic book quickies

[@silversoulbrony]

My question is, why were there never any more of these made? This video was pretty cool, and I'd love to see more! :)

[@patrickbarnes9462]

Thank you for an enjoyable series! Binge watching now.

[@idodo32]

Stealing the statue of librety... In bird culturr? That is considered a dick move...

[@kyleflanagan963]

Not doing your Batman voice and freaking out over the idea of Super Rock is quite possibly the biggest missed opportunity in the history of Atop the Fourth Wall. Still fun. I prefer your regular reviews, but this was interesting.

[@Tareltonlives]

I love how this has become a recurring feature in the show

[@NyQuilDonut]

Man Linkara really needs some subscribers. There are tons of unfunny people doing Let's Play videos with 3 times the subscribers.

[@AT4W]

I actually have quite a few subscribers. However, subscribers do not necessarily translate to views, but it's all good. ^_^ People are free to like and watch what they want to.

[@NyQuilDonut]

Well hot damn. Wasn't expecting a response to that! I hope you didn't take offense to what I said. I just think it's crazy that you only have about 17,000 subscribers when you have such an original and well executed channel. Not many people review comics. Not saying that 17,000 subs isn't that much but lame unoriginal Let's Play channels sadly have more views and subs. Either way I hope you get enough views to make a living off of this because you definitely deserve it. The things you say about Frank Miller always crack me up.

[@AT4W]

lasoogneypubes Oh, I do! It should also be noted that the youtube channel is all my OLD stuff. ^_~ If you want to see the other 150 or so episodes that I release weekly, check out the site itself. ^^ And thanks!

[@NyQuilDonut]

No problem! Once I watch all of your old stuff I'll go to your site and catch myself up. Keep up the good work!

[@SnowyDragoon]

People have opinions, don't act like you speak for everyone. I'm generally not one to say stuff like this, but the way you said it annoys me.

[@ThePreciseClimber]

We need another episode of this. It's been five and a half years.

[@DeadBoneJones]

It's been inducted into Comic Book Quickies.

[@joe95883]

Good job Linkara for taking out Dochey out of the aquation

[@Ultimus31]

15:04 No wonder people complain how there's too much corn in America. They're using it as flooring!

[@Tareltonlives]

I love the Comic ad episodes :)

[@Meanlucario]

Not bad. I can see this being a once or twice a year thing.

[@mycontentcreation5264]

4:12 thats ten years before I was born! 0o0

[@dr.penguinstein3426]

I personally like it, reminds me of that old Ray Bradbury story "Boys, Raise Giant Mushrooms in your Cellar!" it's campy fun that pays tribute to these old ads and revolves around a father who is paranoid about his son is raising alien fungi he ordered from a comic book and that there's this big conspiracy behind the people who placed the ad. ...anyway sorry back on tangent, advertisements are a huge part of comic book history and nostalgic for a lot of people. Personally I'd like to see more, especially if you can find Don Post ads for Halloween masks and the like.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

if the difference between the turbografx-16 is all in your head, does that mean it's no different than any other system? that sounds like terrible marketing, as if you already own another system, why would you buy theirs?

[@jonahfalcon1970]

The Turbografx-16 had many many problems. The first being it had BONK as its company mascot. Bonk.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

Jonah Falcon yeah...they really had no clue what they were doing.

[@BobLogical]

Those people watching Ben fight that building are the same extras from the Amazing Spider-Man 2 who like to crowd around and watch every fight with a supervillain.

[@JHaru777]

I can dig it, I wouldn't mind another look at ads.

[@DigiRangerScott]

I didn't find Nostalgia Critic until a few months after this was released. I didn't start watching Atop the Fourth Wall for several months after that (I consider myself seasoned by the time the One More Day review was released anyway), so seeing how this review starts for the first time was nice. And weird too, since we're coming up on 2 years since the Nostalgia Critic began using the studio, and the studio-era episodes are the only ones available in full on the League channel.

[@markwhat3637]

He should really do a second one of these. Also do a top 10 comics of the year.

[@idodo32]

Stealing the statue of librety... In bird culture That is considered a dick move...

[@luisgusta]

Maybe Pigeon Person was non-binary and was correcting Robin for misgendering them

[@TheSirenNymph]

This is my favorite episode aside from Amazing Fantasy #15, A Deadly Choice and the 300th episode

[@GwenS320]

I actually sat down and did the math and given how much an average pigeon can lift with training and how heavy the Statue of Liberty is it would take 328,000,000 pigeons minimum to lift it. That of course is assuming that all of the pigeons have special messenger pigeon training after which the average pigeon can lift up to 75 grams And the satue of liberty is rougthly 24,600,000,000 grams from her base. From what I can see the math checks out but math has never been my strong suit. At any rate that's a lot of pigeons.

[@troin3925]

You can't actually ride the air car, it's a remote controlled toy, but it does float, even on water.

[@haveown25]

the air car x ray glasses and 100 army men for a dollar was my favorite back then!

[@flair541]

I'd watch more of these

[@DinosaurFan88]

The spaceship part made me realize that, between this and Nostalgia Critic beating him up, dude clearly has the indestructibly of Wolverine.

[@aaronfoster5680]

Art Spiegelman did an interesting comic in "Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@*&!" on his experience buying something out of the back of a comic in 1958. It was advertised as a 3'x9' "frontier cabin" made of "specially treated, safe, flameproof and waterproof Dupont Polyethelene," along with a custom name tag. All for $1.00! After saving up and ordering it, it turned out to be just some cardboard and a plastic tarp. The instructions said to drape the tarp over a card table, with the cardboard acting as the roof. The name tag was a blank sticker for him to write his own name on.

[@Altair718]

Gotta admit, Hostess does have pretty good cupcakes.

[@AZURAKAZ]

I used to watch the SciFi shows on QVC; where it would be Steve Bryant with Mark Hammill, Wil Wheaton, or someone of their ilk hocking memorabilia for a few hours. I imagine the Home Shopping club Marvel show was similar.

[@Trogadorsaysay2]

Ohhhhh, damn you. Now I have a craving for Swiss Rolls. And it will never go away, until it is satisfied. XD

[@neilyoungboy]

Linker your theme song is the best!

[@YouthfulElf]

I heard the hover-car actually worked pretty good, but it was one of those rare items that actually worked among the pile of other mail order tat!

[@BrendanJSmith]

Is that Anthony Michael Hall and Tom Cruise?

[@taekinuru2]

huh I must've missed this one when it first came out.

[@troin3925]

If you want to know what the products in the back page ads like the air car actually are, buy the book Mail Order Mysteries, or the advertisement for it which is on this site. I'll post a link later.

[@shawnlopez2317]

Yes the hover craft cars did work but not over water. I had one when I was little.

[@loneshewolf74]

I use to try that stupid bubble gum disappearing trick all the time when I was a kid. How embarrassing.

[@Tareltonlives]

I recommend the book "Mail Order Mysteries" which is about the mail order objects from back in the day, and whether they were any good or not .

[@ya-kiri794]

I can't help but think of the character Bird/Phoenix Person when hearing the name Pigeon Person.😅